International disputes: The
Albanian Government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic
Albanians in neighboring countries, and the peaceful resolution of
interethnic disputes; some ethnic Albanian groups in neighboring
countries advocate for a "greater Albania," but the idea has little
appeal among Albanian nationals; the mass emigration of unemployed
Albanians remains a problem for developed countries, chiefly Greece
and Italy

Geography

Albania is situated on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, with
Montenegro and Serbia to the north, Macedonia to the east, and Greece to
the south. Slightly larger than Maryland, Albania is composed of two major
regions: a mountainous highland region (north, east, and south)
constituting 70% of the land area, and a western coastal lowland region
that contains nearly all of the country's agricultural land and is the
most densely populated part of Albania.

Government

Emerging democracy.

History

A part of Illyria in ancient times and later of the Roman Empire,
Albania was ruled by the Byzantine Empire from 535 to 1204. An alliance
(1444–1466) of Albanian chiefs failed to halt the advance of the Ottoman
Turks, and the country remained under at least nominal Turkish rule for
more than four centuries, until it proclaimed its independence on Nov. 28,
1912.

Largely agricultural, Albania is one of the poorest countries in
Europe. A battlefield in World War I, after the war it became a republic
in which a conservative Muslim landlord, Ahmed Zogu, proclaimed himself
president in 1925 and king (Zog I) in 1928. He ruled until Italy annexed
Albania in 1939. Communist guerrillas under Enver Hoxha seized power in
1944, near the end of World War II. Hoxha was a devotee of Stalin,
emulating the Soviet leader's repressive tactics, imprisoning or executing
landowners and others who did not conform to the socialist ideal. Hoxha
eventually broke with Soviet communism in 1961 because of differences with
Khrushchev and then aligned himself with Chinese communism, which he also
abandoned in 1978 after the death of Mao. From then on Albania went its
own way to forge its individual version of the socialist state and became
one of the most isolated—and economically underdeveloped—countries in the
world. Hoxha was succeeded by Ramiz Alia in 1982.

Moving Toward Democracy

Elections in March 1991 gave the Communists a decisive majority. But a
general strike and street demonstrations soon forced the all-Communist
cabinet to resign. In June 1991, the Communist Party of Labor renamed
itself the Socialist Party and renounced its past ideology. The opposition
Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the 1992 elections, and Sali
Berisha, a former cardiologist, became Albania's first elected president.
The following year, ex-Communists, including Ramiz Alia and former prime
minister Fatos Nano, were imprisoned on corruption charges.

But Albania's experiment with democratic reform and a free-market
economy went disastrously awry in March 1997, when large numbers of its
citizens invested in shady get-rich-quick pyramid schemes. When five of
these schemes collapsed in the beginning of the year, robbing Albanians of
an estimated $1.2 billion in savings, Albanians' rage turned against the
government, which appeared to have sanctioned the nationwide swindle.
Rioting broke out, the country's fragile infrastructure collapsed, and
gangsters and rebels overran the country, plunging it into virtual
anarchy. A multinational protection force eventually restored order and
set up the elections that formally ousted President Sali Berisha.

In spring 1999, Albania was heavily involved in the affairs of its
fellow ethnic Albanians to the north, in Kosovo. Albania served as an
outpost for NATO troops and took in approximately 440,000 Kosovar
refugees, about half the total number of ethnic Albanians who were driven
from their homes in Kosovo.

Political Infighting Stalls Progress

Ilir Meta, elected prime minister in 1999, rapidly moved forward in his
first years to modernize the economy, privatize business, fight crime, and
reform the judiciary and tax systems. He resigned in Jan. 2002, frustrated
by political infighting. In June 2002, former general Alfred Moisiu was
elected president, endorsed by both the Socialists (headed by Fatos Nano)
and the Democrats (led by Sali Berisha), in an effort to end the
unproductive political fractiousness that has stalemated the government.
The political duel between Nano and Berisha continued, however, and little
improvement was evident in the standard of living for Albanians. In 2005
elections, Berisha replaced Nano, who had been appointed by Moisiu in 2002
as prime minister.

Bamir Topi, a scientist and senior member of Berisha's Democratic Party, was elected president by parliament in July 2007.

Albania joined NATO in May 2009 and later in the month applied for membership in the European Union.

In July 2009's elections, the closest since 1990, Berisha's center-right coalition narrowly defeated the opposition socialists, who were led by Edi Rama. The opposition disputed the results and accused Berisha of voter intimidation.

At Last a New Albanian President Is Elected

After three failed attempts to elect a president, the parliament finally succeeded on June 11, 2012, when Interior Minister Bujar Nishani was elected with 73 votes of the 140 seats. Flamur Noka was named new interior minister and Edmond Panariti became foreign minister.

Sali Berisha, prime minister since 2005, was defeated in his third bid for the office. General elections held on June 23, 2013, resulted in victory for Edi Rama and his opposition Socialist Party, 53% to 36%. Berisha conceded defeat and announced his intention to step down from leadership of the Democratic Party, while Rama celebrated his victory and reiterated his goal to secure EU membership for Albania.